Boy of Blood and Shadows
by Ficti0nisreality
Summary: Naruto cannot truly be a part of Konoha, but he loves it. He abandons what little childhood innocence he had and resolves to protect the village from the shadows, doing whatever is necessary to protect the innocence of Konoha. Darker Naruto and Konoha AU
1. Chapter 1

Uzumaki Naruto walked down the alley headed for the main shopping district, were he knew there would be plenty of people to witness him yelling at a shop owner and humiliating him by revealing he ripped him off the other day! As he got closer his thoughts strayed to all the other times he'd done something similar; there had been no positive outcomes so far. His attempts to gain recognition went either ignored or got him mocked and on one occaision attacked. He frowned and slowed down to sit on a nearby bench. It was on the edge of a small park and had a good view of several popular stores he wasn't allowed into. He tried to examine his situation like they taught in the ninja academy, he had just started last week and that had been one of the first things they learned about: a good ninja always thinks through an obstacle before attemoting to get past it. So in his mind he questioned why he was always trying to bring attention to himself. He begrudgingly admitted to himself it was because he wished someone would acknowledge him rather than just ignore him. He scowled; why was he trying to get these people's attention when it was obvious they hated him? He thought more and more about it and couldn't find an answer. He looked up from his hands and stared at the popular shops from his vantage point. People of all ages walking around in groups or alone everyone with a smiel on their face. Naruto envied them, but then something his teacher had said the first day of ninja academy came to him and he gave pause. Hajime sensei had said, "A ninja's duty is to protect Konoha, many of you may think being a ninja is glamorous or a way to gain personal glory. I will tell you right now the opposite is true. The ninja's path is one of blood and shadows, you will kill and you may very well die for the village. You may be tasked with unspeakable evil for the sake of protecting the village, and you will be expected to comply without question because it is your duty." Naruto had been a little put off by the speech, but put it out of his mind when his determination to become a ninja squashed any fear he had about dying or killing anybody until he forgot the speech entirely. Remembering it now Naruto looked up at the smiling face of a boy a year or so younger than him. He was holding an old woman's hand and pointing excitedly at a toy in the window of a shop. When the old woman and the boy went into the shop and came out a minute later with the toy Naruto saw the look of pure innocent joy on the boy's face and for the first time in his life he didn't feel envy, he felt protective. Naruto knew he'd never worn such a look in his life, maybe he put on a fake grin in a weak attempt to spite the villagers, but he'd never been so happy in his life and he doubted he would ever be. In ninja academy they talked about hardening ones heart to the fate of a ninja, give up your innocence to protect the innocence of Konoha. He looked deep inside himself then and he focused on the boy smiling at his grandmother, he accepted the burden of being a ninja then and there; to protect Konoha he would harden his heart.

Three days later Naruto had dove into his ninja studies with a vigor he had lacked in the first week and a half of joining the ninja academy. His instructor, an old man with a heavily scarred face and a hard jawline who must have been a ninja when he was younger, had even given him an approving look once or twice and he was known for being very hard to please. As soon as Naruto got his monthly orphan's fund check in the mail he went to a ninja supply store and bought a few pairs of durable black pants with a set of inconspicuous beige short sleeved shirts. He wouldn't need to buy any ninja weapons until he became a genin because the academy supplied a set of practice weapons for each student, but he did pick up and examine a few beginners books on various ninja arts some of which where not taught in the academy. Although the books didn't contain anything on chakra manipulation or anything that could really hurt someone, they did go into far more detail than the academy and gave advice on training regimes not taught in the academy. Naruto bought a book on basic taijutsu training and conditioning for beginners as well as a book on weapons fighting of all kinds. He only wanted the book because he'd heard older students talk about never learning anything about any weapons other than kunai and shuriken. He knew he couldn't use any weapon he wanted just from reading about them, but he justified the purchase with the thought of using the information to understand some basics in a weapon he might chose to learn about in the future.

Naruto left the shop and immediately returned home to change into his new clothes. He had felt shame when Hajime sensei had told him no ninja would be caught dead wearing anything so gaudy as an orange jumpsuit. He had proceeded to lecture about clothing that would easily blend into many types of terrain, as well as remain inconspicuous in populated areas. Naruto had taken careful notes and based his new outfit off the old teachers lecture.

Naruto finished getting dressed and felt like he'd started a new chapter in his life by shedding the old jumpsuit he'd always worn. He was not some idiot kid who wore whatever got the most attention. His outfit was calculated and meant to blend in. Naruto smiled grimly, he would blend in and draw no attention while he protected that which he could never be a part of.

**Author's Note: ** Please leave a review and let me know what you think of the first chapter. I'm also looking for ideas on what to do with the plot so leave suggestions if you want:).


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto threw the kunai in quick succession while turning his body s fast as he could. The three kunai all thunked into three seperate targets he had set up along the trees to represent enemy ninja. he nodded to himself and threw off a few more practice shots with his kunai at various targets. He gathered his kunai and pulled out his new senbon needles. He had been practicing using them witht the help of the book on basic ninja weaponry training techniques, he had also gotten a few pointers from Hajime sensei when he aske after class one day. He had insisted naruto needed the special targets which looked like a human silhouttes with nerve clusters senbon users targeted marked on it, to practice using senbon. He had said if he did it with anything else he wouldn't be able to aim properly when taking down enemy shinobi. Naruto had nodded his head gravely and gone off to buy the special targets.

Naruto carefully palmed a senbon andsent it flying into a small circle marked in the targets shoulder. He missed, but just barely. Carefully controlling his frustartion with himself Naruto palmed a second senbon and sent it through the human silhoutte's ankle where it landed square in the middle of a marked nerve cluster. The target would have been unable to use their left leg much and capture would have been easy. Naruto looked to his second target, this one was marked with circles that would create fatal wounds if they were pierced on the human body. Naruto sent three senbon off at once into this one, one through the heart a second in the lung and the third right into the jugular vein. Hitting fatal points with senbon was easier than using senbon to incapacitate a target for capture as the targets were much larger. After another hours work with senbon Naruto deemed himself somewhat improved and stopped his training to go home and rest.

Naruto sighed. The genin exam was tomorrow, and while he wasn't worried about passing he was anxious about finally taking on responsibility as a ninja. He had some time with the D ranks before he had any real chance of failing Konoha, but he knew becoming Genin ranked moved him up the line of defense between konoha and what was on the outside. Despite his concerns Naruto was confident he was above genin level, with a little trainig he would be chunin rank easily as he was proficient in a wide a way of ninja skills and was rookie of the year with little contest. While the Uchiha could beat him in a jutsu only fight because he had access to his clan's techniques while Naruto couldn't learn any until he was a genin, Naruto was confident he could beat him in an all out fight. Looking past his anxiety Naruto was giddy with excitement at the thought of learning from a jounin sensei. He could learn at a much faster rate than he currently was, as his only sources of information were academy level ninja texts and Hajime sensei, who had another thirty students to teach. With a jounin sensei Naruto would only have to share with two people. He was hoping for Uchiha Sasuke and Shino Aburame as they were both very dedicated from what Naruto could see and neither seemed to have any illusions of grandeur about being a ninja. Naruto dreaded the idea of having one of Sasuke's 'fan-girls' as a team mate or someone like Inuzuka Kiba, who obviously had samurai and Ninja confused as a good ninja was not honorable and definately was not glorified as he seemed to believe.

As Naruto walked out of the testing room with his new headband, he felt real pride and a sense of accomplishment at becoming a ninja of the leaf. His pride was of course tinged with apprehension. He would soon be one of Konohas tools and he had no illusions of the things he may be ordered to do. Naruto looked down at the piece of steel and thought of all the implications of wearing it on his forehead. He would be a protector of the smiles he saw from afar that came so easily and the laughter that rang from children's mouths. He hardened his heart and tied his forehead protector on. He was a weapon of the leaf, he would do **anything** for her and have no regrets , because he was nothing more than a tool with one purpose, and that was not to feel, it was to protect.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Dear readers, I have made a decision I think will enhance the story and enhance realism. Please do not be mad...Naruto is not the jinchuriki, the reason all the villagers hate him is because his father was a well known ninja, (not the hokage), who went rogue before he was born and killed many Konoha ninja before he was killed. Narutos mother is also dead. I hope no one minds this change from canon too much, but I believe it's for the best. I hate the kyuubi tbh, and I don't think it does much for stories like this were Naruto and the village have a dark side. If you read this far, please enjoy the chapter, and leave a review!

Anbu Commander, codenamed Eagle, set down the report from the academy instructors on the recent class of graduates. This year had a lot of potential, there were a great deal of clan children and even a few civilian born who showed the potentil for becoming great inja in the regular forces. While this pleased Eagle for it meant a better protected Konoha, he was only looking for the best, not only in ability but in mental fortitude. He was searching for the children who were willing to do things for the village civilian adults wouldn't be able to stomach hearing about. His eyes caught on the next name: _Uzumaki Naruto, the most determined student I've ever taught. From what he says he trains so that he can becoe a great ninja in order to protect the village. He has some idea of the things a ninja must do, unlike a great number of his peers. I would recommend Uzumaki above all other students for anbu._ He had never known Uzumaki Shigeo had a child. Eagle had been part of the team that had finally taken Uzumaki down, he had lost a few friends to the man but he didn't hold a grudge against the child like most of the village. He was frankly surprised the boy had been able to look throuh the hate the villagers had for him. It must have hardened him, he would be a perfect candidate for the anbu if what the instructor said was true. He placed and x next to his name and did a quick scan of the last three students on the list, none were suitable so he called in his personal assistant, a woman who had been an infiltration and assassination expert in anbu before retiring to the desk job. "I have looked through the candidates for Junior anbu training and have found three suitable matches: Aburame Shino, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumake Naruto. Please inform Dog of my choice and tell him they must be ready for duty in three months at the latest." he said in his monotone voice. He set down his paper and began looking over high profile assassination missions for his anbu as she left.

The day after graduation, Naruto walked into the classroom and sat down in his seat in the second row for the last time. He looked around and saw the smiling, excited faces of his peers and felt pity for them. Naruto and a few others who knew what they were getting themselves into had dour expressions, but the rest of them thought they were going to become cool ninja and life would go on but they would get to have a fun job. Naruto sighed and turned his attention to the front, sensei walked in and demanded quiet, everyone shut up quickly, they never crossed Hajime Sensei he was too scary! He cleared his throat and said "I will announce the teams and senseis and then I will leave, your sensei will come by and pick you up. This will be our last meeting with you as my students, do me proud by doing what must be done." He proceeded to list off the teams, most of the class hadn't paid much attention to his somber words, like usual, but Naruto did and he intended to honor his senseis wish. "Team seven will consist of Aburame Shino, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi." Naruto smiled, not only had he gotten the best team formation, but he'd also gotten one of the strongest ninja in the village as a sensei. He looked to Shino and Sasuke and nodded to each, they returned the nods and looked to the front of the room. When Hajime sensei finished announcing teams he left the class, who burst into excited chatter. Naruto went over to talk to his new team mates while he waited for their sensei. "Hey guys," he said. they returned his greeting and they exchanged some information on what they had hearn about their sensei. Apparently he was a retired anbu and well known for being one of the best ninja in the village. A few minutes went by with idle conversation and they lapsed into silence. "None of them know what they're getting into." Naruto stated as he gazed around the room. "No" sad Sasuke, "Fucking idiots," he said. Naruto just raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Shino likewise maintained the famed Aburame stoic attitude. As their classmates trickled out with their senseis, one team after another they waited. After twenty minutes they were the last team in the room. The door opened and a grey haired ninja wearing a face mask and with his forehead protector covering one eye walked in and looked at them. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes" he said, then he left. They looked at each other and just followed out the door.

On the roof they walked to their sensei standing by the railing looking over the village. He turned to them and said with no pause " You have been selected to join the anbu juniors program. You have been selected for this as you all show skill as a ninja and have the right frame of mind. Unlike your classmates you are all capable of taking on the job of being a ninja without training in the regular forces." he paused and stared at each of them before saying "you are prepared to do what is necessary for Konoha and it is my job to train you. You should know, in Anbu you will not be glorified and you will not be able to share any information with anyone. You are to conceal your involvement with Anbu from the public, and may only tell friends and family with express permission from the anbu commander." "The reason Anbu recruits some young ninja from the acadmey every few years is because there are certain missions children are vital to such as certain infiltration missions. You will also be taken on some regular missions because missions in which you need to masquerade as children may be few and far between." He paused again and looked out at the village. "That's it, meet me at training ground seven at 5 a.m. tomorrow." He shunshinned out and the three new junior anbu were left to think about this new developement. They didn't say much to each other, they all understood they were just dumped in the deep end of the ninja world and that it was likely they would be doing 'real ninja' missions a lot sooner than they had thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto arrived at training ground seven at four fifty in the morning, ten minutes early, but both Sasuke and Shino were already there. They greeted eachother but no one pursued a conversation, which was how they all liked it. At five a.m. exactly Kakashi walked into the training ground with a lazy look on his masked face, "Yo!" he shouted cheerfully. The three newly minted genin mumbled hellos and from there they got down to business. Kakashi ordered them to talk about themselves for a little, and their responses to his questions on their goals, likes and dislikes were all startlingly similar. "I like training and learning more ninja skills, I dislike traitors, and my goal is to protect the village." said Naruto. "I like training and reading, I dislike loud and impolite people as well as traitors, and my goal is to become an asset to the village." Shino said in his monotone voice. "I like training and listening to music, I dislike people who are ignorant and I despise traitors, my goal is to become strong enough to become an S-rank hunter nin so I can kill my brother." said Sasuke. From there Kakashi handed them each a stack of papers that detailed an intensive stamina and strength building workout routine. He explained that they would do the workout from five to seven pm every day after spending the day working on ninja skills with him. He also gave each of them a small paper which detailed appropriate foods and daily calorie and nutrient intake appropriate for their age and tailored to their training regime. After discussing their diet and excercise plans some more Kakashi started teaching them basic stealth, Naruto eagerly threw himself into the work and managed to creep through the forest for a hundred feet without making a sound. After they had learned the basics of stealth Kakashi sensei had them sit down on a fallen tree for a lecture. "As anbu ninja you will be ordered to do things even most ninja find distasteful. Most ninja kill, but ninja in the regular forces are honest about it, they engage enemy shinobi in battle and do not conceal their intentions, in fact they shout it out for the world to hear. As my students you will never do this. You will kill who you are ordered, be it civilian child or missing nin, in the most discreet way possible. You creep through the shadows, or trick your way in, you do what must be done. As anbu You may be told to have sex with your marks to gain information or to massacre a family to send an example and you cannot waver or you will have failed Konoha." He ended the speech with an intense stare into each of the new genin's eyes. "Alright, get up and lets spar." They worked on sparring for 3 long hours and by the end of it Naruto, Sasuke, and Shino were all red faced and panting while Kakashi looked like he'd just had a nap. By now the sun was up and they felt as if they'd had the longest day of their lives already, it was just shy of eleven in the morning. They sat and discussed eachother's taijutsu weaknesses for a time. Sasuke focused too much on offense, while Shino did the opposite and Naruto could use some more work on fighting opponents who were larger than him. At two o'clock Kakashi told them they could go for the day, and recommended they have lunch together in order to get to know eachother better. "It is vital you are on friendly terms with your teammates, it could mean the difference between a perfect mission and a failure." he had said. So Shino, Naruto and Sasuke walked through the streets of Konoha together in search of a barbeque restaurant Shino said was delicious. They found it easily enough and walked in and sat down. They were brought the meats they had ordered quickly and the waitress left with a strong glare directed at Naruto. Sasuke noticed and asked bored, "What did you do to piss her off?" Naruto sighed, he knew most of his generation didin't know anything about his father and that it would come up eventually, so he just told them. "A lot of the villagers don't like me because my father was a rogue ninja. He killed over a hundred Konoha Shinobi using a secret technique he stole from the village. He was killed shortly before I was born but no one is willing to forget I am his son." Sasuke nodded and returned to his meal. He looked up a little while later to ask another question, "And what about your mother? Do they treat her poorly too?" Naruto could tell the question was meant more to see if his mother was alive or not than to find out how the village treated her but he let it slide. "My mother commited suicide the day after I was born, she was apparently distraught over my fathers death and I only served as a reminder of him." he said. After that the conversation ended and they talked about their training with Kakashi sensei for another twenty minutes before disbanding for the afternoon. They would meet up again later to go through their workout together.

Three months of constant training went by and Naruto knew he and his teammates were infinitely stronger than when they'd graduated. They had trained the academy skills up to a higher level, but had mostly worked on new ninja skills. They had learned stealth, deception, and basic torture techniques aswell as a new taijutsu style which incorporated their new tanto, and chakra control. Naruto could feel his body's new strength from the physical training and his reflexes were sharper than ever. They hadn't learned any jutsus yet, but Naruto was happy to wait while he learned as much as he could about fighting in other ways. Naruto had taken to the tanto like a fish to water and could now fight off Kakashi for five minutes when he fought at chunin level. Kakashi had aanounced they would be going on their first mission next week, he'd said they would accompany an experienced genin team protecting a bridge builder. They were to infiltrate the local mob run by a man named Gato who were trying to kill the bridge builder. Their mission was to kill Gato.

As this was their first mission in Anbu they would be getting codenames and masks, and were officially inducted as Anbu. They would only don the masks when it came time to leave the other team to kill Gato, but they didn't have to hide their true mission as the other team were ninja of konoha and deemed trustworthy. Naruto was given a Cat mask, Sasuke a robin's and Shino a bear.

They met the other team at the gates of Konoha and waited for the man named Tazuna. The boy named Lee walked over to Naruto and introduced himself, "I am Rock Lee! I will prove you can become a great ninja without using jutsu and become the best ninja in KONOHA! YOSH!" Lee yelled at the top of his lungs. "Nice to meet you, I am Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said calmly. Lee looked a little surprised at his calm response, but just grinned at Naruto after a moment. They began to talk about the mission and what they thought it might entail. Naruto thought Lee like many ninja his age still romanticised the ninja lifestyle too much, but he didn't say anything. When the client arrived Naruto silently got in formation and headed out without a word.

Naruto was in point and scanning all around when he noticed a puddle by the side of the road a hundred metres away. "Kakashi sensei" he said in a low voice. "I see it," he replied "Prepare for a fight," Kakashi casually announced to the two teams. "Guy you and your team ought to protect the client, we can handle this." Kakashi said. "Okay we'll stand by," Guy stated his exuberant attitude suddenly out the door. "What's going on!?" Tenten asked. "It hasn't rained in weeks." Kakashi replied solemnly. Tenten was about to ask more when two ninja popped from the puddle. Before they could say a word they were dodging a half dozen senbon needles aimed at all their vitals. The ninja on the left managed to get out of the way but the one on the right got a single senbon needle lodged in his shoulder as he moved out of the way hastily. As soon as they got out of the way of the senbon they had to fight of an assault from all sides by Naruto's team,Shino had a small swarm of bugs chasing one of the brothers while Sasuke threw kunai at him. One hit in the lower leg and he went down, before he could get up Shino's bugs were on him and he was dead in a minute. Meanwhile Naruto was fighting the brother who had gotten the senbon in his shoulder. Naruto stabbed with his tanto at his heart but was blocked, he immediately struck again at his targets legs. He just managed to step out of the way, but then he started to sway on his feet. "I-is thhhiz Poison?" He slurred before falling unconcious. Naruto walked over to his body and looked to Kakashi who had hung back, he gave the signal to kill and Naruto stabbed the heart. He lokked down at the body sadly for just a moment, before hardening his heart and reminding himself it was for the village.

As he walked back to the rest of the group, Rock Lee yelled out "Why did you kill him! He could have been captured!" He looked really upset so Naruto tried to be gentle. "They are enemies of the village, and obviously no more than chunin rank. They wouldn't have any useful information and we don't waste time with useless prisoners." Naruto said blandly before looking to Kakashi, "Good work Naruto, Sasuke you need work on working together with Shino's insects. And Shino your swordwork could use some work, you barely used it at all when you had the chance to take him out after he was disoriented." Kakashi said. "Hai sensei, "Sasuke and Shino chorused before looking to the other team. Lee was still upset over what he perceived as murder, so he turned to his sensei for support. "Gai sensei, surely we could have taken the enemy prisoner, rather than kill him! It is unyouthful!" Gai pursed his lips and looked at his student sadly. "I am afraid it is sometimes necessary, Lee" Lee's expression was betrayed and incredulous at the same time, "How cqan you turn a blind eye to killing sensei!" he exclaimed, "We are ninja of the leaf!" Gai said in a low voice, "We do what must be done, it is time you learn this Lee, Tenten you too. We will not always be taking easy C ranks, there will be times whe we will kill people for the village and that is the way it is." Lee and Tenten looked surprised but Neji just remained impassive. Lee huffed and looked ahead, and Kakashi said " We should move on," The man Tazuna was still staring from the dead bodies to Naruto and his team with a craazy grin on his face. naruto pointedly ignored him as he got in position and moved on.


End file.
